


Journey on Route 17

by frogy



Category: Young Avengers
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-20
Updated: 2013-10-20
Packaged: 2017-12-29 22:10:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,691
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1010696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frogy/pseuds/frogy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Going to Woodstock was Tommy's idea. Most things are.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Journey on Route 17

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Khirsah](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Khirsah/gifts).
  * Inspired by [We all want to change the world](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/29378) by Khirsah. 



> Plays fast and loose with canon and history. More so with YA canon than history.
> 
> Thanks caesar_rulesall for looking this over.
> 
> For Khirsah's mix, http://youngavengersbb.livejournal.com/5082.html, for the Young Avengers Reverse Big Bang.

Going to Woodstock was Tommy's idea. Most things are. 

When Billy came home from his first year of college with hair curling past his ears Tommy declared it groovy and absolutely would not hear of Billy getting the hair cut he'd been putting off in favor of studying for finals. 

"We're identical twins. You've got to hurry and catch up." Tommy's own hair hangs down to his shoulders.

Billy's hair is even longer now, three months later and almost time to go back to school again. And Tommy's decided they have to go to Woodstock. 

\----

Route 17 isn't moving. Dozing in the front seat, Billy assumed it was some sort of normal traffic. The sort of not moving that is actually stop and go. But they're actually as good as parked.

"What's happening?" Billy asks Tommy in the drivers seat.

"No idea," Tommy shrugs. "I was letting you sleep. If you're up, I'm going to find out." Without waiting for an answer from Billy he opens the door and hops out. "Hey man," Tommy shouts at a guy and a girl walking through the sea of stopped cars, "what's with all these cars? What's happening?"

"Too many people, no where for the cars to go. If you want to get to Woodstock you have to leave your car and walk from here," the guy says, making his way over to their car. Billy watches them through the car window. The guy's got shaggy blonde hair, dingy jeans and, despite the summer heat, an oversized green anorak on. The girl he's with is wearing a purple tunic, and has yellow flowers woven into her dark hair. "I'm Teddy," the guy says, "this is Kate." 

Billy opens his door and gets out to see Teddy and Kate shake hands with Tommy, as he introduces himself. "And this is Billy."

"Hey," Billy says, leaning across the hood of the car to shake hands with Kate first. Then, Billy takes Teddy's hand. With his free hand, Teddy pushes his blond hair out of his face to reveal dazzlingly blue eyes, and suddenly the handshake is electric. Billy thinks this is what Tommy was talking about when he said that Woodstock was going to be something special.

He's pulled out of his revery by Tommy asking Kate where they're from.

"We drove up from New York City," she says. "We left my car about a quarter mile back."

"We're coming from the city too," Billy says.

"Well then it's like we were meant to make this journey together," Teddy says. And seemingly like that, they're off, walking to Woodstock, weaving in and out of cars making a parking lot out of route 17, waving to the others making the trip as they pass.

They've fallen into groups of two, Tommy up ahead with Katie, and Billy with Teddy. "So, what do you do?" Teddy asks Billy once they've exhausted talking about the drive up, the show they're going to see, and the ominous looking clouds above.

"I'm in school," Billy says. "I go to college. At Binghamton. What about you?"

"Lucky." Teddy says. "I'm working."

"Shit," Billy says. Working means no getting out of the draft. "You're like Tommy, like that." Billy looks at his brother. Tommy's saying something, no doubt hilarious, from the way Kate's laughing at him.

"I thought I was like you," Teddy says, and Billy looks back at him startled. One corner of Teddy's mouth is quirked up. Teddy's eyes, looking right into Billy's are so blue. What does Teddy know?

Billy looks away first. "It's bullshit, this war."

"Won't hear me arguing."

'I wish there was something I could do."

"Protest," Teddy says. "Show up. There's power in numbers.

"I feel so cut off up at school. Like I'm in some other world, and one day I'm going to come home and find everyone gone. Like Tommy will be gone. Do you know what I mean? Do you have brothers?'

"No, it's just me and my mom," Teddy says. "My worry is purely selfish."

"Oh." What do you say to that?

"Anyway, you're doing something now. Showing up for peace, love, and fucking rock and roll." Teddy punctuates the "rock and roll" by pulling a joint from his pocket and lighting up. He takes a drag, and Billy is politely silent while Teddy holds it in. It smells sweet and heavy in the air when he lets out the smoke. He holds the joint out for Billy, an offer "to work on that peace."

Billy takes it.

\----

They're still walking when it starts to rain, a drizzle that turns to a steady downpour that soaks through their clothes and keeps just keeps on going. Billy tries to ignore the way his shoes squelch to focus the story Teddy's telling him about hitch-hiking down to DC to go to a protest. Then the sun goes down, and with it the temperature, and no story about Teddy childhood Davy Crockett collection can distract Billy from his shivering. (Not even if Billy had a similar collection for years. Teddy might just be perfect.)

"What's wrong?" Teddy asks, noticing that Billy's distracted.

"It's nothing," Billy says. But his teeth chatter while he speaks, so he's not sure who he's fooling.

"Shit. If you're cold, you could have said something. You can have my coat," Teddy says shrugging out of it.

"No, really, I'm fine," Billy protests.

"Hey guys," Teddy calls out to Kate and Tommy. "We're going to stop for a minute. We'll catch up later."

"Is everything okay?" Tommy turns around to ask.

"Yeah, fine," Billy reassures him. Tommy shrugs, taking Billy's word for it, continuing on with Kate.

When Billy looks back to Teddy, Billy finds him pulling on the door handle of the nearest car. When it doesn't open, Teddy moves to the next car. "What are you doing?"

"Finding somewhere you can get out of the rain," Teddy answers, moving on to another car.

"But that's someone's car." Billy arms crossed over his chest, although it" as much to try and warm up as in disapproval.

"They're not using it right now." The third times a charm, and Teddy holds the back door open for Billy. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind. Even if the owner came back, they can't go anywhere." Teddy looks at Billy expectantly. Billy gives in. 

Teddy climbs into the backseat of the car after Billy slamming the door behind him, and shuts out the rest of the world. 

"Take your shirt off and take my coat. Don't be stubborn," Teddy instructs, already shrugging off his coat and taking off his own shirt, leaving Billy nothing to do but follow. Billy twists away from Teddy to take his shirt off, and when he sits back down, Teddy lays his coat across both of their chests, like a blanket. "Shared body heat," he says.  
Billy can feel it; Teddy too hot next to him. It's dark in the car and the outside is muted by the rain on the room. Huddled together under Teddy's coat, they could be the only people around for miles. This close, even without light Teddy's eyes sparkle and his blond hair seems to glow. It's too much. 

He says, "What, were you a boy scout?" It's a poorly landed joke, instead just an awkward question.

But Teddy continues to prove himself unflappable. "You weren't?"

It's a fair question. "Nope. They met in the church rec room and my Jewish parents wouldn't let us go." He and Tommy were the only two kids in their elementary school class to be picked up by their mom on Wednesday afternoon instead of the troop leader. Tommy never seemed to mind. Billy never got over being the odd one out.

"Shame," Teddy says. He doesn't elaborate why. Instead, he reaches a hand out of their parka cocoon. He pulls another joint out of his pocket, lights it and takes a hit. "You want?"

Billy moves to take it, but when he pulls his arm out from under the jacket the whole thing slides off their shoulders and down to their laps. Teddy hands it over and, hands now free, fixes the jacket, only to have Billy nearly elbow him in the face when he passes it back and tries to pull his arm back into their cocoon.

At his next exhale of smoke Teddy breaks their back and forth silence. "This isn't working," Teddy says. "Here, I have an idea. Teddy shifts around so he's turned to Billy. "Face me."

Billy turns his head and Teddy right there, too close to focus on his face as a whole. Billy has to look at Teddy as component pieces, pick his eyes, or his nose, or his lips, which are moving again. "Just breath in when I breath out.'

'Okay," Billy nods. He's still looking at Teddy's lips, red and a little chapped, when Teddy brings the joint to his mouth. Billy's eyes go cross-eyed as they track the glowing red sparks at the tip flaring when Teddy sucks in, and Billy blinks the after image of the light burning behind his closed eyes. When he opens them the world resolves itself in Teddy's eyes staring right back at Billy.

Teddy opens his mouth.

Billy breathes in the smoke and holds it. The air from Teddy's lungs are now in his. He's looking at Teddy, but Teddy's watching Billy's lips now. Billy chokes at the thought, coughing a little and letting the smoke escape.

'Again?" Teddy asks, and takes another hit. He lets it out sooner, and Billy sucks it in, the smoke working to heat him up from the inside out. 

Somehow he and Teddy have moved closer. He can't see Teddy's lips anymore, so close that Teddy's nose is in the way. He thinks he's not wrong in this. "If you wanted to," Billy says, letting out the smoke. "You could kiss me."

'Could I now?" Teddy says softly, fond, but he doesn't wait for an answer, surging forward, to bring their mouths together. 

Billy opens up under him. Teddy tastes like weed, the sticky and sweet. It hangs heavy in the air inside the car, making everything hazy and unreal when Billy blinks, once, twice, before closing them.

Teddy shifts and brings one hand up to cradle Billy's head. His hand is big against the side of Billy's face, strong and capable. Billy wants to know what Teddy can do with those hands. Billy has to touch too. He reaches out, hand finding Teddy's chest.

Teddy jumps, and Billy jerks away from Teddy. "Shit, sorry."

'No, wait." Teddy grabs one of Billy's hands before he can go too far. "It's just, your hands are cold. It startled me." Teddy's hand is still wrapped around Billy's, and he moves it, turning so their fingers can slide together locked in the space between them. "It's okay. A guy like you should be startling."

Billy's thoughts are moving slowly, "Why should I be startling?" 

"You're hot," Teddy says looking out the front window, not meeting Billy's eyes. He says it like someone stating the obvious, but that's clearly wrong.

Teddy's gorgeous and golden and a gift from the Woodstock gods. Teddy's the one sharing his body heat with a cold, shivering Billy. He is literally the hot one, and Billy can't hold back the giggling that comes with that thought. "You're the hot one," he says, laughter overtaking him.

Billy leans back laughing, pulling Teddy, who's still holding on to his wrist, with him. He doesn't mean to lean so far back they overbalance, but that's what happens, Billy landing on his back, Teddy coming down hard on top of him, knocking the laughter right out of him. 

There's nothing funny about how much Billy needs Teddy to kiss him again right now. The skin of Teddy's chest is pressed up against Billy from how they're sprawled. This time when Billy brings his hands up to press into the muscles of Teddy's back, Teddy doesn't pull away. Teddy arches into Billy's touch instead, shifting so that their chests slide together, so that he can get his hands tangled in Billy's hair, tilting Billy's head so he can get his lips back on Billy's.

Teddy tugs on Billy's long hair and Billy groans, opening his mouth under Teddy. Billy may never get another hair cut again. Their legs have slotted together and Billy thrusts up as they kiss. He's never wanted anything the way he wants this, right now, in the back seat of their appropriated car, on a weekend at a festival that's somewhere out there defining a generation, if the news is to be believed. Billy doesn't care about a generation. He cares about this boy, right here with him.

Billy pushes Teddy up just enough to get to the fly of his jeans, working at the button. "We can take these off," Billy explains when Teddy looks questioning.

Off might be overly ambitious in the cramped space, made smaller by not letting Teddy out of his personal bubble, but Billy gets his jeans and underwear shoved down around his thighs. The back of his knuckles bump Teddy's as he does the same, mirrored movement right above him.

With their clothing out of the way, Teddy sinks down again. Billy's hips jerk when Teddy's dick meets his, skin on skin. Teddy wraps his big hand around both of them. Billy was right to think it capable, Teddy's thumb swiping over the head on every upstroke, sliding with perfect pressure on the down.

It's Billy's turn to get his hands in Teddy's hair, pulling him back into a kiss. Billy blames extenuating circumstances when it's with less fineness, and more teeth clanking. They're not so much kissing as panting wet, desperate breaths into each others mouths.

Billy comes first, groaning, overwhelmed by Teddy's hands, and his lips, and his fucking everything. He loses what's happening around him, his heart's beating fast, echoing loudly in his own head, as he comes down. When Billy comes back to himself, he notices Teddy again, Teddy who is still propped over him, jerking off, the slick sound of wet skin on skin. Teddy's cock is wet from Billy's cum.

"Fuck, that's hot." If he hadn't just come, Billy'd be hard again. Instead, he reaches a hand out to join Teddy's, Billy's fingers slotting into the places between Teddy's own to grip at Teddy's cock. Their hands move together until Teddy hips jerk hard and he comes, collapsing on top of Billy.

They lie there in silence. Then Teddy moves enough to drop his arm down into the footwell of the seat, and come back with one of their t-shirts to wipe his hand off on, then their stomachs.

"Someone's gonna have to wear that tomorrow," Billy says, slurring in post-orgasm haze.

"We've still got one t-shirt and one coat between us. We'll be fine. Teddy drops the now dirty t-shirt back onto the floor and settles back on top of Billy, pillowing his head in the crook of Billy's shoulder.

It's quiet in the car. Teddy's breath is hot across Billy's chest. Billy never wants to leave. This weekend feels like a moment out of time, a weekend away from his real life where he's the boring twin. This feels like something Tommy would do, serendipitously meeting a beautiful stranger. He's the perfectly gridded streets of their parents" upper-East side home. Tommy is the wild mess of dirty people in the fields, protesting or celebrating or whatever this is. 

Going to Woodstock was Tommy's idea. "Come on, it will be one last hurrah before you go back to college and leave me forever."

'It's not forever," Billy corrects. "I'll be home for Thanksgiving." It's not even three full months until he'll be home again.

"And I could be half way around the world and dead by then," Tommy says.

"You can't," Billy's suddenly unable to form words. He can't be the quiet twin, the shy one, the bookish one, without the loud twin, the social one, the wild child. There's no Billy without Tommy.

"So, you'll go?" Tommy says, blind, as always to Billy's existential angst.

"Of course," he says. "But seriously, if you get called, don't go. Come visit me. Upstate's practically Canada. We'll get you over the border."

"Calm down, man. I'll be fine. I'm always fine."

Billy doesn't find that as comforting as he'd like.

He doesn't want to go home. None of this is Billy, but he loves it. He knows he's lucky. But he doesn't want to go back to a reality where he goes off to college and everyone from home goes off to war. 

"I don't want to have to worry about you too," Billy says quietly.

Teddy's mostly asleep on top of him, heavy and reassuring, but he mumbles what might be a "what are you talking about?" only with much less coherence, so Billy ignores it, and closes his eyes instead. He's asleep before he can devote any more energy to worrying.

\----

Something is banging. Billy opens his eyes slowly, the sun out in full blinding force. It's a person knocking on the car window. Billy hopes it's not the car's owner. "Teddy" Billy says, nudging at his shoulder. "Wake up." 

Teddy grumbles, but his eyes blink open, once, twice, until he's awake. "I think someone's knocking."

It's awkward getting up, trying to wriggle his jeans back on, under the blanked of Teddy and his coat, with someone outside. Teddy manages to get his jeans buttoned up first, and grabs his clean shirt, leaving Billy under with the coat to finish putting himself back together.

Teddy cracks the door open. "Yes?" he asks.

"Are you boys okay?" the woman outside asks. She has long grey hair pulled up in a ponytail, and is wearing jeans and flannel. "I'm from a local farm." Teddy gets out of the car once it's clear she's friendly so Billy can have a moment. He takes it, sitting up and taking a few deep breaths, before slipping the coat on. His shirt's a mess that he's just going to leave where it is.

"When we heard about all the people who didn't have anything here, we got some bread and peanut butter and made sandwiches. Would you like some water?"

"Sure, thank you," Teddy is saying as Billy gets out of the car. "Billy, this is," Teddy goes to introduce the woman before pausing. "Actually, I don't think I caught your name." Teddy is even polite to strangers. He is too perfect.

"I'm Susan," the woman says, handing Teddy the jug of water she has, so she can offer her hand.

"I'm Billy," Billy says, taking her hand "and this is Teddy. Thank you."

Billy and Teddy take the peanut butter sandwiches offered to them, while Susan tells them what the news has been saying about Woodstock, that there's over 300,000 people here, that cars are abandoned as far as 20 miles back now, that they are due for more rain over the course of the weekend. When they are done eating and drinking water, she lets them take some extras for the friends they are going to try to meet up with.

And then they do that, saying goodbye to Susan and their car for the evening, heading off up the road. Conversation is as easy the second day as it was before the night before, but today it gives Billy an extra thrill every time their arms bump or their hands brush walking side by side.

"Hey, Billy," someone shouts when they are a ways up the road, and Billy turns around looking for where the voice is coming from. It's not "someone," it's Tommy. Who else would it be? 

Billy waves back, and pulls Teddy with him when he takes off in that direction. Tommy is sitting outside of a tent, on the outskirts of a field of people as far as Billy can see. He's lost his shirt at some point, and has some sort of purple bandana tying up his long hair.

When they get within talking distance Tommy asks "where were you guys? I was worried we missed you in the dark."

"We found an open car and slept there," Billy says, sitting down next to Tommy. "I couldn't take any more rain." 

"You can hear the concert from here," Tommy says. "Can't see for shit, but as soon as we found space we sat down. There's an insane number of people here.'

"Yeah." Billy takes a sandwich out of the pocket of Teddy's coat and offers it to Tommy. "A woman from one of the local farms was giving out sandwiches," Billy explains. Tommy takes it.

Kate emerges from the tent. There's something different about her. She's wearing a different, unfamiliar shirt. Suddenly Billy realizes where he'd seen that purple before. Teddy goes to talk to Kate. 

"So," Tommy says now that Teddy's distracted. "You lost your shirt too?"

"You said I needed to work on being identical," Billy says. 

Tommy looks pointedly at Teddy, "we're not that identical." But Tommy's smiling at Billy, as he says it and Billy knows Tommy's cool with it, that possibly he already knew because even though they don't use it much anymore, they've never lost that twin ability of knowing what the other is thinking.

"I don't remember taking anything that would make me see two Tommys," a black guy says sticking his head out of the tent, interrupting the conversation.

"Hi, I'm Billy, Tommy's twin," Billy says.

"Oh thank god," the guy says. "I did not want to be having that sort of trip." He comes out of the tent and heads over to Kate and Teddy. The guy is wearing Tommy's shirt.

Billy gives Tommy a incredulous look.

"That's Eli. It's his tent," Tommy says.

"We're not that un-identical."

"Shut up. Do you want half this sandwich?" Tommy holds a messily ripped half out for Billy.

Billy takes it. Going to Woodstock was Tommy's idea but Billy wouldn't want to be anywhere else.


End file.
